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Defenders Expands Legal Challenge to Trump Administration’s Assault on Endangered Species Act
Defenders of Wildlife today filed an amended complaint challenging the Trump administration’s escalating effort to dismantle longstanding protections for threatened and endangered wildlife under the Endangered Species Act.
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NPS Land Swaps and Visitor Plan Open the Door to Devastating Impacts at Cumberland Island
In advance of a public hearing on proposed land exchanges on Cumberland Island National Seashore, Defenders of Wildlife called on the National Park Service to remedy a host of management issues facing one of the largest undeveloped barrier islands on the East Coast.
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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Memo Underscores Trump Administration’s All-Fronts War on Wildlife
Brian Nesvik, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, issued a memorandum explaining to FWS staff that the Endangered Species Act’s prohibition on unauthorized “take” applies only to affirmative acts intentionally and purposefully directed at a particular animal. This follows the Trump administration’s rescission of the regulatory definitions of “harm” under the ESA, which took effect this week.
Press Releases
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Administration’s Proposed Greater Sage-Grouse Proposal Falls Short, Must be Stronger to Reverse Declines
The Biden Administration today released a draft amendment to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land use plans covering much of the land intended to protect the greater sage-grouse, an imperiled species that has experienced an 80% population decline since 1965 and faces serious challenges from prolonged habitat loss and climate change. The proposed amendment, which updates BLM’s 2015 greater sage-grouse conservation strategy, affects 69 million acres across 10 states, almost half of the greater sage-grouse’s remaining habitat.
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Ocelot Conservation Day Returns to Brownsville
Ocelot Conservation Festival, hosted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Friends of the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, and Defenders of Wildlife, returns
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New Refuge System Designation Expands Florida Wildlife Protections
Defenders of Wildlife joined today with conservation groups and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to celebrate the official designation of the Everglades to Gulf
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Environmental and Fishing Groups Raise Alarm About Ongoing Killing of Federally Protected Fish by the Central Valley Project and State Water Project
On March 6, a coalition of environmental and fishing groups reiterated their request that a federal court modify federal agencies’ proposed interim plan for operating
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Defenders Calls on Governor to Veto Killing of Bears Act
Defenders of Wildlife is calling on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to veto a proposed bill that would allow residents to shoot and kill black bears
jcovey@defenders.org
